Scouting the Internet
What is the internet?
- A network of computers with no central hub.
- Over 10 million hosts.
- Over 40 million people in the US and Canada have internet
access.
- For more information on the internet,
click here.
What is on the internet?
- E-mail and mailing lists.
- World Wide Web.
- Value-added services (AOL, Compuserv,
etc.)
- News groups (usenet)
- File Transfer of FTP (uploading and
downloading)
- Other (telnet, IRC, gopher, etc.)
What do I need to get
on the internet?
- A computer
- A modem
- Software
- A provider (ISP)
What is a provider?
- Value Added Services
(America Online, Compuserv, Prodigy, etc.)
- Internet Service Providers (T-Net - Auburndale, WCTC - Wisconsin Rapids,
Core DCS - Stevens Point, DataWave - Wausau, Global
Gallery - Iola, Northern Net Exposure - Eagle River, PC
Professionals - Wausua, Rhinelander Telecommunications -
Rhinelander.
- Work - make sure
that using the company's resources for personal use doe
not violate any company policies!
- School - Most
schools have internet access and may allow you to use
their computers. Some even have open hours for the
community to use the computer lab.
- Libraries - Many
public libraries have computers with internet access that
patrons can use.
Youth
protection and the internet.
- Time - Unsupervised,
youth can spend many hours on the internet, which could
be used for more productive endeavers.
- Money - You can buy
ANYTHING on the internet. Make sure your kids don't use
your credit cards to make purchases.
- People - While there
are many well-meaning and wonderful people on the
internet, there are some people whose motives are not in
the best interest of your children.
What shouldn't I do on
the internet?
- Give out your name, address or phone
number to people you don't know.
- Agree to meet someone you've met on-line.
- Download and use a program without
checking for viruses.
- Harass, threaten, or embarrass someone.
- Post sexually implicit information.
- Impersonate another person.
- Use harmful, profane, abusive, or
otherwise objectionable language.
- Forward chain letters or pyramid schemes.
- Advertise, except in areas intended for
advertisements.
- Send SPAM (unsolicitated internet
junk-mail).
E-mail concepts
- Netiquette -
Informal rules for using e-mail. Click here to learn
more.
- Confidentiality -
Don't repeat things in e-mail that were told to you in
confidence. If you aren't sure, ask the person who gave
you the information whether they mind your sharing it.
- Be Brief, don't repeat - When replying to e-mail, don't include the
sender's message in the body of your message. If it is
important to quote the sender, edit out the unneeded
parts.
- Watch your language
- Don't use language which you would not use in a
telephone call or in person. Because e-mail is a
"flat" medium, people often won't detect
sarcasm or the tone of your voice. Try to avoid
"tongue-in-cheek" humor. You're not talking to
a machine, there is a human being reading what you write.
What is a web site?
A web site is simply a group of documents, or
pages, placed together under one heading, similar to placing
paper documents in a file folder. The pages of a web site will
usually have some type of connection to each other, or central
theme.
Scouting web sites. Click here to see a list of
Scouting-related web sites.
How do I find things
on the internet?
Search engines - Search
engines are programs which look for documents which contain
"key words" which you provide. The more key words you
enter into the search engine, the more specific the seach will
be. For example, a recent search on the wors "Scouting"
yielded 61,952 web pages which included that word. A search on
the words "Boy Scout roundtable" yielded only 171
pages. To view a list of search engines, click here.
E-mail lists
E-mail lists are discussion groups which
operate through an automated listserver. The server re-routes all
incoming messages to all of the subscribers. Most have options
for compiling all daily messages into a digest. Click
here for a listing of scouting-related
e-mail lists. Lists are available for general scouting topics or
specific topics, such as Wood Badge, Order of the Arrow, LDS
Units, and many more.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups, also known as "usenet"
are similar to e-mail lists, except that they are accessed
through a newsreader program (usually included with your web
browser). The following are a few of the more active newsgroups:
- rec.scouting.misc - General and
international scouting and guiding topics
- rec.scouting.usa - Topics related
specifically to scouting and guiding in the U.S.
- rec.scouting.issues - Issues related to
scouting policies.
- rec.scouting.guide+girl - Topics related
specifically to Girl Scouting and Girl Guides.
Clipart on the Internet
Many great scouting images can be obtained from
the internet. Most of these images are available for use, free of
charge. Before you take a clipart image, though, you should check
for copyright information. To copy an image from the net, put
your pointer on the image and click with the right button on your
mouse. A menu box will pop up. Click on "save image
as". This will save the image file to your hard drive, or
the drive you specify. The following are a couple excellent sites
which have clipart available free of charge:
On-line version of the course hand out.
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